FJRanger
SILVER Star
That's good to read!
Delta Vehicle Systems Panhard Lift Bracket, 3" & 5"
- Thread starter Delta VS
- Start date
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That's good to read!
Do you have the 75mm HD? If so which bracket did you go with? Tia
Dirty Koala
SILVER Star
Yes I have the 75mm HD springs and bought the 3-4" bracket.
Delta VS
Supporting Vendor
- Thread starter
- #147
Quick little update for folks. I've been telling people that if you have 37" tires, they will LIKELY be acting as your bumpstops enough that you won't have any clearance issues with a 5" bracket. Finally got a set of 37" tires here at the shop to test out first hand. Turns out 37s are NOT enough by themselves. Really really close, but not quite enough.
Here is the low mile 37 I got ahold of and mounted to FJ Cruiser wheel (slightly less than stock offset). Tire stuffs just fine, as long as you don't mind contact...
There is FULL CONTACT between the two yellow arrows from tire to wheel well, then again against the fuel filler tube plastic cover piece.
Here is a shot of the inside/back part of the tire above frame rail. You can see solid tire/wheelwell contact here also.
Front of the tire, daylight is visible, this continues until the yellow mark but a good pic was not possible.
And finally, what matters. With that much contact between tire and body, there is about 1-1/4" gap between TOP EDGE of 3" panhard bracket and frame cross-member. Should be 2" + to avoid contact with a 5" bracket. As you can see, there is daylight between the stock location bumpstop and axle (about 1/4 or 3/8" or so). So if you dropped your bumpstop 1", it is unlikely you would have bracket/chassis contact. If you look close at the bracket in this pic right above the top bolt, you can see where there is some missing powdercoat. That is from having totally stock bumpstops while running the 3" bracket as hard as possible in testing. Contact happened when hitting a 12"-16" "speed bump" on a dirt road with all tires, at about 60mph. With a 1/4" bump stop drop, that most likely wouldn't have happened.
As always, ask away with any questions.
edit: words
Here is the low mile 37 I got ahold of and mounted to FJ Cruiser wheel (slightly less than stock offset). Tire stuffs just fine, as long as you don't mind contact...
There is FULL CONTACT between the two yellow arrows from tire to wheel well, then again against the fuel filler tube plastic cover piece.
Here is a shot of the inside/back part of the tire above frame rail. You can see solid tire/wheelwell contact here also.
Front of the tire, daylight is visible, this continues until the yellow mark but a good pic was not possible.
And finally, what matters. With that much contact between tire and body, there is about 1-1/4" gap between TOP EDGE of 3" panhard bracket and frame cross-member. Should be 2" + to avoid contact with a 5" bracket. As you can see, there is daylight between the stock location bumpstop and axle (about 1/4 or 3/8" or so). So if you dropped your bumpstop 1", it is unlikely you would have bracket/chassis contact. If you look close at the bracket in this pic right above the top bolt, you can see where there is some missing powdercoat. That is from having totally stock bumpstops while running the 3" bracket as hard as possible in testing. Contact happened when hitting a 12"-16" "speed bump" on a dirt road with all tires, at about 60mph. With a 1/4" bump stop drop, that most likely wouldn't have happened.
As always, ask away with any questions.
edit: words
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Now, this is awesome tech info. Thanks for doing this. Getting actual measurements is awesome. Just because it adds a little bit to the picture... you are testing on a rig that has an OME 2" lift on it, right? If so, you'd have the shorter OME shocks, I'm guessing. I would guess that the guys running your 5" bracket would have longer shocks which require extended bump stops already So, in most cases, your bracket clearance would still not be an issue. (Even my 3" Slinky setup came with 2" extended rear bump stops.) Looking at your 37" tire clearance on a deflared rig makes me want to step up to 37s!
Anyone want to measure their stock rear panhard for me?
Bludozer
SILVER Star
Apologize if this has been covered earlier in this thread, but what about the opposite of that? If you installed the 3" bracket on a truck with 2-2.5" of lift would that be a negative effect on spec?
Delta VS
Supporting Vendor
- Thread starter
- #155
Are there actual 2-2.5” lifts out there though? The shop rig with the 37 on it above has old, junkyard OME “2.5 mediums” springs on it and the 3” bracket gets the panhard about 3/4” lower on the axle side. I was under the impression those are the lowest springs available? Would be good to know if there are others. One of the big things is interference with frame. As mentioned above, I don’t have any bumpstop extensions and have had slight contact. In @Rwhat ’s question above, you’re basically going to lose all up travel.
Most important thing to do is measure the height difference of panhard bolts and move forward from there.
Bludozer
SILVER Star
That's a valid question, I don't really have a good answer. OME "stock height" kits and the like supposedly net 1-2" of lift so that would be one example. For 2.5 Dobinson and similar, I guess it really depends on how you are measuring...from stock OEM when new, or worn out, sagging 200k springs.
Delta VS
Supporting Vendor
- Thread starter
- #158
Yup, this is why I firmly believe the best way to measure is actually get under the rig and find the difference between the chassis and axle panhard bolts. That’s really the only way to tell what will be best. If you have 2.5” difference, you’re basically 1” above what we’ve seen on stock springs and I’d argue you don’t need a Panhard Lift Bracket. Always good to have people try it and verify, but that’s not the situation it’s designed for.
I just installed my @Delta VS panhard bracket yesterday. It took me right around an hour to do. That includes parking the LC in the shop, using the forklift to just raise the rear enough as directed in the instructions and having the spare in the way.
The fit was tight, but nothing a brass hammer can't fix. The only issue I ran into was the ABS line that was attached to the 4 link mount on the axle. Once I got that taken care of the top of the bracket dropped into place. The use of the alignment holes is a great idea, I used it to get the bolts started through the holes and on the other end for the nut.
After installation was complete I used the forklift to lift the LC"s rear wheels off the ground to unload the axle and allow it to move/center itself if it hadn't while I bolted the trailing arms/panhard back on. But after putting the LC back on its own weight the axle is centered.
Initial driving impression... HOLY s***!!! This bracket makes a world of difference. I drove it on a combination of highway and surface streets. The wandering that everyone experiences after lifting an LC was bad in mine as I have yet to do the caster correction on the front and had not installed the bracket. After the installation of the bracket, most of my LC's wandering issues are gone, but I still plan on getting the @Delta VS radius arms.
I have spent thousands of dollars on modify/upgrading cars in the past but honestly, this is one of the best bang for the buck modifications I have done.
The fit was tight, but nothing a brass hammer can't fix. The only issue I ran into was the ABS line that was attached to the 4 link mount on the axle. Once I got that taken care of the top of the bracket dropped into place. The use of the alignment holes is a great idea, I used it to get the bolts started through the holes and on the other end for the nut.
After installation was complete I used the forklift to lift the LC"s rear wheels off the ground to unload the axle and allow it to move/center itself if it hadn't while I bolted the trailing arms/panhard back on. But after putting the LC back on its own weight the axle is centered.
Initial driving impression... HOLY s***!!! This bracket makes a world of difference. I drove it on a combination of highway and surface streets. The wandering that everyone experiences after lifting an LC was bad in mine as I have yet to do the caster correction on the front and had not installed the bracket. After the installation of the bracket, most of my LC's wandering issues are gone, but I still plan on getting the @Delta VS radius arms.
I have spent thousands of dollars on modify/upgrading cars in the past but honestly, this is one of the best bang for the buck modifications I have done.
